John Maddox Roberts: The King's Gambit (USA 2001)

From the Publisher:
In this Edgar Award nominated mystery, John Maddox Roberts takes readers back to a Rome filled with violence and evil. Vicious gangs ruled the streets of Crassus and Pompey -- routinely preying on plebeian and patrician alike. So the garroting of a lowly ex-slave and the disembowelment of a foreign merchant in the dangerous Subura district seemed of little consequence to the Roman hierarchy. But Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger -- high-born commander of the local vigiles -- was determined to investigate. Despite official apathy, brazen bribes and sinister threats, Decius uncovers a world of corruption at the highest levels of his government that threatens to destroy him and the government he serves.

John Maddox Roberts: The King's Gambit. SPQR I. Thomas Dunne Books / St. Martin's Minotaur, ISBN: 0312277059 (August, 2001), 274 p., $13.95.

John Maddox Roberts: SPQR (USA 1990)

From the Publisher:
FOR THE SENATE AND PEOPLE OF ROME...
They were evil times for the great Republic of Crassus and Pompey- when vicious gangs ruled the streets, routinely preying on plebeian and patrician alike. So the garroting of a lowly ex-slave and the disembowelment of a foreign merchant in the dangerous Subura district seemed of little consequence to the Roman hierarchy. But Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger -- high-born commander of the local vigiles -- was determined to investigate. And despite official apathy, brazen bribes and sinister threats, the dedicated functionary would uncover a foul stew of corruption simmering at the highest levels of his government -- one which promised destruction to both Decius... and the mighty Republic he so loyally served.

John Maddox Roberts: SPQR. Blackmail, Corruption, Treachery, Murder - The Glory That Was Rome... New York: Avon Books, 1990, ISBN: 0380759934, 229 p., $3.50.